Editorial Content for The Absolution
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As sunrise gleams over a beach in Venice, Italy, the beams of morning light illuminate a startling discovery: the body of a man with his throat slit and tongue cut out. The ironic thing is not that the police made this discovery on Venice's most popular beach, but that the way the body was mutilated speaks to who may have been responsible for the murder and why it happened.
The final installment in Jonathan Holt’s Carnivia Trilogy, THE ABSOLUTION, delves into Venice's past and takes a giant step forward by also focusing on modern technology that is paving the way for the future. The series has been multi-layered throughout as we see the above-ground reality of Venice as a city teeming with secrets and attempting to hide from a past history that keeps rearing its ugly head. Beneath this is the virtual version of the same city that can be explored through Carnivia.com. The unique thing that Holt is able to do is create a new fictional reality that blends both the actual and the virtual Venice and end up with something that is a hybrid of both.
"The unique thing that Holt is able to do is create a new fictional reality that blends both the actual and the virtual Venice and end up with something that is a hybrid of both."
The brutal murder that took place becomes the responsibility of Carabinieri Detective Kat Tapo. She is a female operating in a system that is overwhelmingly male and facing pressure from both within her own justice system and outside in the often dangerous underground society that exists within the heart of Venice.
Kat immediately suspects that something is amiss when the mutilated body on Lido beach was found wearing a mysterious mask. She recognizes that the murder did not take place on the beach and that the body had been moved. Further digging points to a strange ritual and signs of Masonic involvement. Why would an ancient group like Italy's Freemasons be involved in such a public killing? This ends up being the first murder investigation that Kat is running, and it is no coincidence that the powers that be may be setting her up to fail.
Meanwhile, Carnivia.com and its founder, the brilliant and reclusive Daniele Barbo, are facing their own issues. Daniele has been trying to exit his anonymous site quietly, but a threat by outside hackers in what may be a takeover attempt is making this quite difficult. When a virus is discovered contaminating the site, Daniele faces a challenge in removing it before it unleashes a wave of destruction throughout the country.
Both Kat and Daniele's individual struggles may lay on the same pathway. When an American intelligence analyst named Holly Boland begins tracing a conspiracy dating back to a shocking Cold War cover-up, it becomes evident that all paths lead to an explosive conclusion where all of these storylines converge --- and the fallout could bring down this great Italian city.
Jonathan Holt pulls out all the stops and brings this unique thriller trilogy to a stunning conclusion.
Teaser
On Venice’s popular Lido beach, a man is found lying on the shore, his throat slit and his tongue viciously torn out, and his face covered by an unusual antique mask. Superiors inside the Venice Carabinieri have finally given Captain Kat Tapo permission to run her first murder case. But when she learns that the mask is a Masonic “hoodwink” --- and that the circumstances of the man’s death are eerily similar to the Masonic punishment for betrayal --- she suspects that her appointment has darker implications.
Promo
On Venice’s popular Lido beach, a man is found lying on the shore, his throat slit and his tongue viciously torn out, and his face covered by an unusual antique mask. Superiors inside the Venice Carabinieri have finally given Captain Kat Tapo permission to run her first murder case. But when she learns that the mask is a Masonic “hoodwink” --- and that the circumstances of the man’s death are eerily similar to the Masonic punishment for betrayal --- she suspects that her appointment has darker implications.
About the Book
In this mesmerizing finale to the revolutionary Carnivia Trilogy --- following THE ABOMINATION and THE ABDUCTION --- Venetian police captain Kat Tapo and U.S. Army intelligence analyst Holly Boland embark on their most dangerous and disturbing journey yet.
On Venice’s popular Lido beach, a man is found lying on the shore, his throat slit and his tongue viciously torn out, and his face covered by an unusual antique mask.
Superiors inside the Venice Carabinieri have finally given Captain Kat Tapo permission to run her first murder case. But when she learns that the mask is a Masonic “hoodwink” --- and that the circumstances of the man’s death are eerily similar to the Masonic punishment for betrayal --- she suspects that her appointment has darker implications. As a woman, she cannot penetrate the closed world of Italian freemasonry.
The dead man is identified as a senior partner in a small Catholic bank currently engaged in negotiations with one of Italy’s richest men. Yet Kat knows that, when it comes to Venice’s most powerful and influential, money isn’t the only motive for murder.
While she focuses on her investigation, American intelligence analyst Holly Boland finds a document among her father’s possessions that offers evidence of a shocking Cold War cover-up. The deeper the second lieutenant digs into what her father knew, the more she begins to wonder: Was her father silenced before he could expose the truth?
Reclusive genius Daniele Barbo, creator of the anonymous virtual world Carnivia.com, makes a chilling discovery of his own: his website has been contaminated by a malevolent virus that will cripple Italy unless he can break his own encryption and prevent catastrophe.
As the three cases merge, the trio of allies uncover a conspiracy involving the security services, the Church and the CIA --- a devastating plot stretching back decades that could destroy all three of them...but not without a fight.
